Sutro Biopharma, Inc. and Blackstone announced the companies have entered into a royalty financing collaboration agreement where funds managed by Blackstone Life Sciences will provide $140 million upfront, with up to an additional $250 million in future milestone payments triggered at various return thresholds, in exchange for Sutro’s 4% royalty, or revenue interest, in the potential future sales of Vaxcyte’s products, including VAX-24 and other products that Vaxcyte develops under its license with Sutro. Vaxcyte’s lead candidate, VAX-24, is a Phase 3 ready, 24-valent next-generation pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) with enhanced serotype coverage and immunogenicity. Vaxcyte’s PCV franchise is enabled by Sutro’s XpressCF® cell-free protein synthesis technology.